Tool for holding and driving fasteners



Feb. 12, 1957 E. A. RODIN TOOL FOR HOLDING AND DRIVING FASTENERS FiledMarch 14, 1955 EMIL A. RODIN L INVENTOR.

HIS ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,780,811 TOOL FOR HOLDING AND DRIVINGFASTENERS Emil A. Rodin, Los Angeles, Calif. Application March 14, 1955,Serial No. 494,168

4 Claims. (Cl. 1-47) This invention relates to a tool which isparticularly adapted for use by sheet metal workers to hold shoenails ofthe type used by them during the start of the nail driving operation andto open and close lock seams of the type used in sheet metal work.

It is an object of my invention to provide such a tool which is simplyand economically formed from a single piece of material, which tool issimple and rapid to use and which is extremely durable.

My tool is particularly adapted for holding short nails which are to bedriven into hard substances such as concrete, brick and the like. In thepast, workers have held such nails manually or with pliers, which isdangerous in the former case and slow and inefiicient in either case.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a tool which iscapable of transmitting a hammer blow to the held nail with the sameforce and proper direction as if the nail itself were struck a directblow.

Another object of my invention is to provide such a tool in which a nailis held by the head rather than by the stem and in which the nail cannotcome out of the holder, rock, roll or move during the driving operation.

A still further object of my invention is to provide such a tool whichis also capable without any alteration thereof of being used to open andclose lock seams of the type which are commonly used in sheet metalwork.

It is also among the objects of my invention to provide such a toolwhich is extremely fast and simple to load and unload, whichautomatically retains the nail in the proper position and which is notdamaged as the nail strikes an impenetrable surface. My tool may also beused to finish driving a nail, if the head of the nail is inaccessiblewith a hammer.

My invention also comprises such other objects, ad vantages andcapabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherentlypossessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodimentof my invention, it should be understood that the same is susceptible ofmodification and change without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l is a top elevational' view of my tool;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the same;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of my tool in use, with only one endof the tool being shown;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of my tool in use to complete thedriving of a nail;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of my tool in use to unlock a sheetmetal seam.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate myinvention comprises an elongated body member 10, which is preferablyformed from a single solid bar of steel. Body member 10 is preferablysomewhat fiat rather than round so that it will not roll away from theuser when placed on a fiat surface.

One end of body member 10 is provided with a passage 11, which extendscompletely through body member 10 from one side thereof to the otherside. The passage 11 is of substantially truncated triangular shapedcross section, with the apex of the triangle being cut off along theline of the end surface 13 of body member 10 to provide an open end 12for the passage 11. The passage 11 is tapered so that the entrance 14 onone side thereof is wider than the entrance 15 on the opposite sidethereof, with the side walls 11a of passage 11 gradually and equallynarrowing from entrance 14 to entrance 15. The side walls 11a of thepassage 11 preferably extend at the same angle and are alwaysequidistant from the center of the passage 11.

The base 16 of the passage 11 is fiat and extends parallel to the endsurface 13 of body member 10. At each corner of the base 16, a smallgroove 17 is cut into body member ill to a point slightly beneath thebase 16. The substantially equidistant angular side walls 11a convergetoward open end 12.

In use, a short nail it; of the type which is commonly used by metalworkers may be inserted so that its head 19 enters the larger entrance14 of the passage 11, with the stem 20 or" the nail extending outwardlyfrom body member id through the open end 12 of passage 11. The nail 18is moved along passage 11 from entrance 14 toward the narrower entrance15 until its further movement is prevented by engagement of the walls ofthe passage ill with the head 19 of nail 13.

The head 19 has a top 21, which is substantially square in crosssection, with its bottom having only a slight taper toward the stem ofthe nail. The engagement which takes place between the head 19 and thepassage 11 is a three point engagement in which the flat surface of thetop 21 of nail it lies fiat against the base 16 of passage 11 to preventrearward movement of the nail 18. The side walls of passage 11 engagethe bottom edge of the top 21 on a line which preferably extendssubstantially diametrically through the axis of the nail 18 to preventmovement of the nail 13 in a downward or sideward direction.

This engagement of the nail l8 and passage 11 preferably takes placesubstantially on a line with the longitudinal axis of the body member 10so that the nail is held in line with such axis.

The tool is now loaded and ready for use. It is moved to the placedesired and the end 22 of body member 10 which is remote from passage 11is struck by a hammer. The blow is transmitted through base 16 directlyand firmly to the top of nail 18 with the same force and effect as ifthe head of the nail had been directly struck. When the nail has beendriven a sufficient distance to take hold, the tool may be removed bysliding it downwardly until the head 19 of the nail 18 is removed fromthe passage 11 through'entrance 14. The nail can then be driven the restof the distance by direct blows. If the nail is inaccessible for directhammer blows, the end surface 12 of the tool may be placed against thetop 21 of the nail is to complete the driving operation.

My tool may also be used for unlocking seams such as the Pittsburgh lockseam, which seams are commonly used in sheet metal work. After the seamhas been slightly loosened, the passage 11 is used to grip the loosenedportion 25 and exert upward pressure thereon to break the seam in themanner shown in the drawings. My tool may also be used to close suchseams and is more rapid and efficient than hammers, pliers or otherdevices which are now in use for opening and closing seams.

I claim:

1. A tool comprising an elongated body member formed of a single pieceof rigid material, said body member having a passage at one end thereof,said passage having an open entrance at one side of said body member,said passage having a substantially flat base extending transversely tothe longitudinal axis of said body member, a pair of substantiallyequidistant angular side walls converging from said base to an open enddisposed at the end of said body member on the opposite side of saidpassage from said base, said side walls also tapering gradually andequally toward each other from said entrance toward the opposite side ofsaid body member, said base adapted to engage the top of a nail head,said side walls adapted to engage the bottom edge of the nail head attwo separate points on a line extending substantially diametricallythrough the axis of the nail to hold said nail with its stein extendingthrough the open end of said passage and prevent movement of the nail,the end of said body member remote from said passage adapted to bestruck by a hammer to drive said nail.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, said passage extending across thelateral axis of said body member and the distance between said sidewalls along the transverse axis of said body member being substantiallyequal to the width of a nail head so that the nail is held within saidpassage on a direct line with the longitudinal axis of said body member.

3. A tool comprising an elongated body member formed of a single pieceof rigid material, said body member having a passage at one end thereof,said passage having an open entrance at one side of said body member,said passage having a substantially flat base extending transversely tothe longitudinal axis of said body member said passage having a pair ofangular side walls converging from said base toward an open end disposedat the end of said body member on the opposite side of said passage fromsaid base, said side walls also tapering toward each other from saidentrance toward the opposite side of said body member, said base adaptedto engage the top of a nail head, said side walls adapted to engage thenail'head at two separate points to hold said nail with its stemextending through the open end of said passage and prevent movement ofthe nail, the end of said body member remote from said passage adaptedto be struck by a hammer to drive said nail.

4. A tool comprising an elongated body member formed of a single pieceof rigid material, said body member having a passage at one end thereof,said passage extending through said body member from one side thereof tothe other, said passage having a pair of entrances on opposite sides ofsaid body member, one of said entrances being substantially larger thantheother, said passage having a pair of side walls extending from one ofsaid entrances to the other, said side walls tapering toward each otherfrom the larger of said entrances to the smaller of said entrances, saidpassage having a base, said base extending between said side walls fromone side of said body member to the other, said passage having an openend disposed oppositely from said base, said open end being disposed atthe end of said body member, said side walls also tapering toward eachother from said base toward said open end, both longitudinal andtransverse sections of said passage substantially defining a trapezium,said open end being larger than the stem of the nail to permit the nailstem to extend therethrough, said passage adapted to removably receiveand hold a nail, the head of said nail being inserted in the larger ofsaid entrances and moved toward the smaller of said entrances, the headof said nail being held within saidpassage with the top of the nail headdisposed against said base, the stem of said nail extending through theopen end of said passage, said side walls engaging the under side of thenail head at two separate points on a line extending substantiallydiametrically through the longitudinal axis of the nail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS411,633 Balfour Sept. 24, 1889 612,833 Dexter Oct. 25, 1898 1,535,032Ochs Apr. 21, 1925 1,867,928 Smith July 19, 1932

